Police arrested a Fall River man who is alleged to have used a hypodermic needle to rob a convenience store on Rodman Street Thursday night.

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Authorities said Shawn Liberatore, 19, of 136 Baker St., later turned himself in by going to Walmart and waiting until a police officer arrived to arrest him, the Fall River Herald News reported.

According to court documents, Liberatore said he needed help for a heroin addiction.

Liberatore was held on $3,500 cash bail after being arraigned in Fall River District Court on charges of armed assault to rob, assault with a hypodermic needle and breaking and entering in the nighttime to commit a misdemeanor.

Police allege that Liberatore is the man who entered Golden Food Mart at 1043 Rodman St. just before 6:45 p.m. Thursday and ran around the counter while brandishing a syringe.

The suspect demanded money and started looking under the counter. While he was distracted, the clerk grabbed a claw hammer that he kept at the end of the counter and raised it in the air. When the suspect saw the hammer, he dropped the syringe, jumped back over the counter and ran out of the store without taking anything, Fall River police Lt. Paul Santos said.

Witnesses said the suspect wore a black and white bandana over his face, and described him as a white man, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, wearing black sweatpants with stripes down the sides and a black hooded sweatshirt, Santos said.

After allegedly robbing the store, Liberatore, according to court documents, told police that he broke into a nearby home and hid in the basement for two hours until he decided to walk to Walmart and surrender himself.

Liberatore also reportedly told police that the syringe contained his blood, and that he is positive for hepatitis C. Police also said he admitted to robbing the store because he wanted to get high. According to court documents, Liberatore had recently escaped a facility where he was being held on a Section 35 commitment, a term used to describe the situation in which someone is civilly committed and being treated involuntarily for alcohol or substance abuse.

Liberatore is scheduled to return to court for a probable cause hearing on Tuesday.